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People of the Land, Old Testament (עַם הָאָרֶץ, am ha'arets; also: עַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ, ammey ha'arets, “peoples of the land,” “nations of the earth”; עַמֵּי הָאֲרָצוֹת, ammey ha'aratsoth, “peoples of the lands”). The indigenous population of a place, whether in its entirety or in reference to an elite subgroup. The phrase and related variations often refer to pre-exilic Judahites, but also can denote non-Israelite foreigners.
The construct “people of the land” combines two of the most common biblical Hebrew nouns: am (“people,” “nation,” “tribe”) and erets (“ground,” “earth”; “world”; “territory,” “country,” “region”). It is still controversial whether the singular term am ha’arets refers to a specific group, class, or institution, or if it merely describes the masses in general. Plural forms almost always refer to non-Israelites.
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